I have a love-hate relationship with this picture. I love the hamster in the pocket, but for some reason at first glance the fellow reminds makes me think of Jared. But I have to believe that love wins out over hate, eventually, and this looks like a fine family, and the hamster is adorable.
Plus, doesn’t love always win out, in the end?
Photos are part of the collection sent to me by Subaru Diane.
PaulWartenberg
Capybara doesn’t know love. Capybara IS love.
Jay
Giant Bunny has best family,
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AyUYeLrXqug&feature=emb_title
SiubhanDuinne
I knew I had seen those somewhere, recently. Glad to see you making such good use of them, WG!
Incidentally, and FTR, if I knew anything about the sources of these photos, I would gladly provide credits. But they came to me in an email from my cousin, who probably got them in a message from her sister-in-law, who undoubtedly picked them up from a Facebook page of a friend-of-a-friend, who saw them in a listicle somewhere.
SiubhanDuinne
@PaulWartenberg:
Right? That is one blissful capybara.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: Yep! I am giving credit as far back as I know the source. :-)
Third of Two
That’s a big hamster.
James E Powell
That guy looks more like Richard E Grant in his Withnail & I days.
Ken
@PaulWartenberg: For a moment I thought someone had found the formula for Herakleophorbia, and it was the hamster all grown up.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne:
Oh God, we’re going to get another angry letter.
Dan B
Rodents come in such a range of sizes, like these two. But where is the Capybara/ Wombat species the size of a Water Buffalo? Imagine the nibble marks that would leave!
pacem appellant
@Ken: Damn you, Ken. I know exactly what you’re talking about!
Juju
Who knew capybaras were so cuddly?
The sister looks like a younger Jared with longer hair.
TheOtherHank
@Dan B:
I’m pretty sure we (ie, humans) ate them all thousands of years ago
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Excellent job channeling Cole. :-)
WaterGirl
@Juju: She is kind of giving us the side-eye.
zhena gogolia
@Jay:
Wow, I can’t believe that’s real.
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Exactly what I’m trying to avert.
Phylllis
Ultra-wealthy mega donor Darla Moore has blasted the University of South Carolina for not sending her condolences on the passing of her mother on April 1st. Which brings up the question-does one donate to an organization because of belief in and support of their work and values, or to add to the list of sycophant butt-kissers in an attempt to find meaning in your otherwise empty life? Darla appears to be the the latter. What an entitled, self-centered, tone-deaf twit.
Also, really? Your mom just died and this is your priority?
Aziz, light!
Humor break.
17-Year-Old Asks Friend What It Means When Guy You Like Wants Blanket Pardon
Betty Cracker
To paraphrase someone on the Twitters, “no, pelican, you cannot eat a whole-ass capybara…”
Dan B
One rodent i wish was domesticated is the Pika or Rock Rabbit. It’s a denizen of alpine regions in rockslides. They are the cutest with cute round ears and a high whistle to signal danger. It makes for a wonderful echo in bouldery and rocky swales. Pro tip: Do not attempt to hike with a Jack Russell Terrier in Pika territory! Un-possible, or nearly so, even with a strong leash and strong leash arm.
Dan B
@TheOtherHank: Mammoth Wombat BBQ?
SHOW ME THE TEETH!
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: Do we think that’s a sign of affection, or if hunger or otherwise nefarious interest?
edit: I forgot to say that I laughed out loud when the video started.
J R in WV
I saw a advice-wanted letter in the Guardian where this young woman’s boy friend wanted her to move in with him and his kids… but she had to pay more than half her income for “her share” of the mortgage payments. She talked about her mortgage payment, his mortgage payment, wanted advice on what to do.
My first and only thought was “That isn’t a boy friend, that’s a guy who wants your money. Dump that MFer immediately!” Run away, Run away!!!
Betty Cracker
@J R in WV: As my dear mother would have said, “Honey, run like a scalded dog!”
mrmoshpotato
@Phylllis: Ah yes. Universities are totally known for their heart-felt condolences. Same way I get a warm fuzzy feeling when my dentist’s office wishes me a happy birthday via automated text message.
Roger Moore
@Phylllis:
¿Por que no los dos?
Central Planning
@Aziz, light!: The Onion used to be available in printed form. I was a subscriber for a little while late in the last century.
Humanities Prof
If anyone is familiar with the books of Bill Peet (of which I was a big fan as a wee little lad), capybaras are basically Wumps.
mrmoshpotato
@Betty Cracker: “I was giving the furry guy a backscratch with my bill! I had no thoughts of ‘Get! In! My! Belly!'”
Leto
@SiubhanDuinne: If this isn’t a Lord Helmet/Spaceballs style quote, I don’t know what is! ;)
Leto
@mrmoshpotato: I know my dog gets really excited when her happy birthday card from the vet arrives… /ssssssssss
Brachiator
Is the woman in the photo a Lady Reverend?
Maybe they didn’t want it confused with an April Fool’s Day joke.
From a Wikipedia article on Moore:
Roger Moore
@Dan B:
Technically, pikas are lagomorphs, the same family as rabbits and hares, not rodents.
scav
@Phylllis: I mean, isn’t that what traditional families are valued for? Their deaths are all about you. Plus, if personal asses aren’t permanently and publicly smoochied, what’s the point if being a philanthropist? (I mean, clearly you’re the anthopod that’s buying the philia.)
mrmoshpotato
@Leto: Do you interrupt the poker game to let her know?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: I think I may have been here too long. //
debbie
@James E Powell:
Agreed, and also that his efforts to stand out have succeeded.
Phylllis
@scav: I know my first thought when a loved one dies is ‘where are the form condolence letters from flunky functionaries filled with trite phrases-those are the ones that will provide me solace at this time’.
Leto
@mrmoshpotato: The last time I did that I was lucky to pull my hand back with all of it’s digits. I learned my lesson!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@J R in WV:
Ironically, I met a young woman today who has been in a similar relationship for four years and made the down payment, along with other expenses.
”But I didn’t know he was a psycho despite his previous mental health hospitalizations, and he’s been able to keep his dentistry license” was not a good shield to what I had to explain to her about assets and child custody.
Ken
@Phylllis: “Dear
PHYLLIS
, We are so sorry to hear about the recent loss of yourERROR: 'RELATIONSHIP' MISSING OR UNDEFINED
. In these moments, many people find comfort in making an additional gift in the memory of their loved one,…”Ken
Predictive text analysis says the next word should have been “despite”, or possibly “even though”.
Phylllis
@Ken: Warms the cockles, it does.
Baud
@Phylllis:
Wake culture has gone too far.
Leto
@Ken: Will not be surprised to find that his patients are routinely asked, “Is it safe?”
Baud
@Phylllis:
If I didn’t get birthday emails from my auto insurance company, it’d be like I wasn’t even born.
dmsilev
@Phylllis: I am actually a bit surprised. Universities devote a lot of effort towards keeping big donors happy, or at least feeling appreciated. A ‘mega-donor’, whatever the threshold for that is, might well expect a condolence call from the university President.
Maybe she’s just such an ass that they decided not to care?
raven
There is sugar gliders.
raven
@Baud: I get them from Chevy Talk!
Ken
@Baud: I get an actual card, but they also handle my renter’s insurance.
gwangung
@Phylllis: Hm. My job is to keep track of such passings. One thought is that someone fell down on the job.
On the other hand, what was the gap? If it was only a week out, the internal notifications aren’t quick enough to know immediately….
Sloane Ranger
Found the original photo. The young man is M T Anderson.
Here is the link.
https://bestlifeonline.com/hamster-pocket-square/
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Lennon beat you to it:
Ken
@gwangung: They could blame it on the post office!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Ken:
I know, but you know, dentist. They’re sadistic psychopaths from the start.
The observed adderall abuse was another key component of the pathologies…
Phylllis
@dmsilev: Reports are she is quite high maintenance.
germy
https://reductress.com/
LiminalOwl (formerly The Fat White Duchess)
@J R in WV: I saw that column too. The agony aunt came pretty close to saying what you said.
Phylllis
@gwangung: That was my thought–April 1st was only last Thursday, could be some folks took Good Friday & maybe even Monday off. It would be great if a letter postmarked 4/1 shows up…today.
LiminalOwl (formerly The Fat White Duchess)
@scav: It’s not philia. Storge, maybe, but even that seems like pushing it.
(I’m reading C.S. Lewis’s The Four Loves yet again, if anybody’s wondering.)
LiminalOwl (formerly The Fat White Duchess)
WaterGirl: love the pocket hamster! Thank you!
And I recommend the Twitter feed of Capybara Man to everyone.
germy
“Free speech” … Jesus!
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
That is one ambitious pelican (beak holds more than his belly can).
Leto
@germy: That’s the laugh I need to cleanse the palate after responding to the conservative shitheads on my state senator’s FB feed regarding her support for trans people/expressing disgust over Pennsylvanian Republicans trying to introduce anti-trans sports laws. (Yes yes, FB bad, all that). Really got them to fly that hate flag on that.
LiminalOwl (formerly The Fat White Duchess)
ugh. Trying to clear an error, sorry.
trollhattan
@germy:
IIUC California has explicitly outlawed it but after Katie Hill’s run-in.
Leto
@germy: that requires a, “lol, wut???” Can’t wait to see the appeal decision on that.
Miss Bianca
@Dan B: oh, pikas! Yes, they are almost unbearably cute. It’s been several years since I’ve seen one – I used to see them all the time on the scree piles when hiking in the Lost Lake area on CO’s Western Slope. Sadly, I’ve heard that they are yet another critter who may fall victim to global warming.
Anoniminous
And in other news …………
Brits are discovering leaving the EU means they are no longer part of the EU.
Much hilarity is ensuing as long term Brit ex-pats in Spain have discovered they are illegal immigrants.
trollhattan
@germy:
“Back in the day” friends ran a video store–VCRs, televisions, Very Expen$ive movies on tape–and one of the brands they carried was RCA. Except RCA was just a name slapped on Japanese-made gear by then but a certain sort of duffer would come in and insist on only looking at RCA decks “because they’re American.”
And so it goes.
Miss Bianca
So, according to IRS.gov, they sent the latest COVID relief payment “to the address I had previously provided” on March 24. Too soon to start wondering, “where the hell is it, then?” Or too late?
different-church-lady
Is that a hamster in your pocket or are you… never mind.
Dan B
@Roger Moore: Lagomorph just trips off the tongue!
I suppose the tongue is a floppy proboscis in the mouth…
trollhattan
@Anoniminous:
NOBODY could have anticipated that.
Tory gits.
germy
This bird
different-church-lady
@Miss Bianca: On the one hand, mails be slow nowadays. On the other, check theft has been going way up for a couple of years now.
Miss Bianca
@Ken: LOL!!
smith
Apparently, Matt Gaetz thinks along similar lines, and has gone to great lengths to support this “right.”
LiminalOwl (formerly The Fat White Duchess)
@germy: Damnit. And just as Gaetz (and others of his ilk) wanted.
Has everyone seen this already?
(In WaPo, which won’t let me link properly, but google on headline)
http://Matt Gaetz opposed Florida revenge porn bill
@smith: ah, you got it while I was editing.
Leto
@Anoniminous: I remember either reading an article, or seeing a news clip, about some Brits living in Spain who had voted leave, expecting to be able to stay in Spain, then discovering the results. They expected either the UK Home Office to do something, or the Spanish government… not like everyone basically warned them of what would happen, nope, not gonna let a bunch of people in Brussels tell US what to do… dumbasses.
For our UK friends here, I’m really sorry for shit heading your way. Hopefully you can get things turned around.
Dan B
@Ken: The last dentist I had learned that dentists were the professionals most likely to murder their families. He cut back on his patients.
trollhattan
@Dan B:
@Miss Bianca:
Picas are adorable, and not easy to spot. I’m more likely to see their little piles of plants drying for storage than the cute li’l critters themselves–although one does her their warning calls.
To your point they’re being forced upmountain by climate change and the parts of the Sierra Nevada I usually hike they’re exceedingly rare already (one eventually runs out of mountain). They were more common in the Cascades and Olympics when I was a kid and hopefully are still doing well there.
The little round ears are the clincher.
WaterGirl
@Leto: Hey, Leto. What is LOL funny about this ruling? it’s appalling.
Miss Bianca
@different-church-lady: Fortunately, my mailbox is a locked item in a pillar box full of others, so nothing to stand out about it. Unfortunately, it’s also right by the road. : (
sab
@Dan B: Wow. I did not know that, but once upon a time I worked at an accounting firm where one of our dentist clients did murder most of his family and also all the dinner guests.
mrmoshpotato
@Anoniminous:
??♂️
JeanneT
Love the capybara hug pic!!
(If you aren’t already aware, capybaras are classified in the rodentia family ‘Caviidae’ , and their closest cousins are the much smaller cavies we know as Guinea pigs (which are also quite adorable, as well as edible in some cultures). My last Guinea pig, Mr. Bill Nibbles, lived with me for five years before he died – but some pet cavies live to 8 years old – they’re a lot more durable than hamsters!)
Gin & Tonic
I have a really gorgeous pair of shoes made from capybara skin.
Dan B
@Miss Bianca: Pika’s habitat is moving upslope as alpine zones move up and subaloine vegetation encroaches. They get pushed to diminishing terrain and are effectively pushed up the top of narrowing peaks. It’s sad.
kindness
Oh, I want a capibera. Where do I go (besides Central/South America) to get one. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about my cats attacking and killing it for play and I suspect my pups would give it reasonable berth as well….so long as it wasn’t trying to eat their food.
sab
Is it just me, or does the mom in that picture look like an Episcopal priest? She might just be wearing a turtleneck, but it looks more clerical.
Hoodie
@Phylllis: My son is a former Gamecock. Moore has a complicated relationship with USC. I think she feels that she has a proprietary interest in the school because she helped put their business school (their flagship program) on the map (thus raising the school’s profile) by doing things like financing facilities that are pretty over the top. She has given a metric shitload of money to USC and to Clemson (who did bother to send their condolences). South Carolina is a the red-headed stepchild to their neighbors in NC and GA. I think she views these donations as trying to pull SC out of the plantation era and onto a level playing field with its neighbors. She got into a fight with USC when Nikki Haley replaced her on the USC board with a political donor. She also had a conflict with them because SC’s GOP governor bigfooted into the selection of the replacement for the pretty widely liked president Harris Pastides. My son says the guy who replaced him, the former West Point chancellor, has turned out to be ok and not the Trumper some feared he would be.
sab
@Gin & Tonic: We did not need to know that.
J R in WV
@Ken:
Do they also cover your boat? Motorcycle? ;~)
Dan B
@trollhattan: I hope they’re doing okay in Washington’s mountains but I’ve read they’re declining. I used to see many on every fourth hike into alpine country. We’ve got good snow cover this year which helps since they don’t hibernate and need snow as insulation for their homes in the rocks and to keep their food caches safe into Spring.
scav
@LiminalOwl (formerly The Fat White Duchess): Will utterly admit to winging it herr, but I’m not seeing evidence of much storge from the donor-party in question to the fjord-pining mater and any form-letter storge from USC would strike me as taking its alma mater-hood a little too literally. Maybe I need to read the book.
J R in WV
@WaterGirl:
Pretty sure Leto agrees with you on that. Expostulation in shock at the decision… Me too!! Shock. Freedom of Wut?!!?!!????
trollhattan
@Dan B:
California had a second very sub-par snow year in a row, which stresses alpine zones considerably. It’s part of a long-term trend of what could be a megadrought. I know some specific spots in the Sierra that once had snow through the summer but now are bare by fall. Those little areas of life above treeline can be delicate and don’t recover easily.
Gin & Tonic
@sab: Tell me these are not gorgeous.
JaneE
@Phylllis: Several of the charities I contribute to send me Thanksgiving greetings (along with requests for more money, of course) and I know we get birthday greetings from someone we either contribute to or do business with. Apparently a hundred or two a year is enough to rate a fancy request for funds once a year. Most of the time it is just standard #10 envelope with mailing labels/notepads/magnets/tote bags. I just wish they would forego the freebies and let me make my donations in peace when I choose to send money.
I suppose that if you qualify as a “mega” donor, you expect a little more.
zhena gogolia
@sab:
Good call. Someone up above identified the person as M T Anderson. From his Wikipedia:
JaneE
@trollhattan: Some of the Sierras due west of me used to have snow until the next season’s snowfall began. Now most of that is already gone on the south facing faces and even some of the north faces. For the last few years the Whites seem to get and keep more snow than the Sierra, 25 years ago it was the reverse. 65 years ago there was enough snow near Mammoth Lakes to let a couple of dozen kids and adults have a snowball fight at the end of August, and most of the mound was still left by the time we had frozen our hands off.
But climate change can’t be real. /s
rikyrah
You know that it kills the MSM that they can’t tone police 46 for calling these voter laws
“the new Jim Crow.”
The Democrats may have a messaging problem usually, but not with this issue.
The language used is strong, powerful and THE TRUTH.
It kills them that they can’t “both sides” the issue.
The step up of corporations killed any chance of them doing that.
Keep on calling it out, 46.
Never stop calling it what it is.
The new Jim Crow.??
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: I totally get the WTF part. It’s the LOL that was jarring.
Leto
@WaterGirl: it’s an expression of incredulity. Yeah, I don’t get how how posting someone’s naked anything, without their permission, is somehow protected under the first amendment.
WaterGirl
@Leto: I guess it is if you’re a judge who thinks the slut deserves it for having the photo taken in the first place. People like this cretin do not belong on the bench.
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@sab: per Mr. Anderson’s Wikipedia bio, she was indeed an Episcopal priest.
NotMax
@sab
Quiet chuckles elicited in the Brit series Grantchester when, every time the priest-slash-detective is out and about in civvies, someone inevitably comments “You’re not wearing your dog collar.”
J R in WV
@WaterGirl:
I figure the judge is a member of the guy’s frat, or poker night, or such like. Should have recused himself, couldn’t imagine needing to do such a thing, he’s judicial after all.
pluky
@Dan B: ahem!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castoroides
will “bear sized” do?
Belafon
Harold & Maude is one of my favorite movies.
Timill
@WaterGirl: IIRC, copyright in a photo belongs to the photographer, not the subject. But I’m not a lawyer or a photographer.
LiminalOwl (formerly The Fat White Duchess)
@scav: Entirely possible that I’m misunderstanding the terms, despite CSL’s best efforts. Mostly I was trying to say that I saw very little “liking” anywhere in the story.
i do wish I had taken Greek in college. But the first two semesters were only offered at 8 a.m., and it was a five-days-a-week class.
ZeeLizzee
Off topic question from long time lurker:
I suddenly find myself with two cars and have to sell one. I’ve gotten an offer for each from CarMax. They were both about the same and 2-3 thousand MORE than I expected.
Does anyone have experience selling to CarMax? Would you recommend them as a buyer? Should I hold out and try to sell private party?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Gin & Tonic
@ZeeLizzee: No relevant experience, since I tend to drive cars until they return to their base elements, but if CarMax is offering you more than you expected, take the money and run. Their check will clear, but if you waste the next month chasing an extra thou from a private party, and they can’t produce the cash or give you a bad check or something, you’ll wish you had taken the first deal.
ZeeLizzee
@Gin & Tonic: that’s kinda what I’ve been thinking. Now I have to decide what’s more important to me: great gas mileage or great looks. I’m leaning toward the mileage. Thank you!
Mary G
@different-church-lady: I don’t now why, but the IRS made a direct deposit into the checking account I’ve had for ten years for my Social Security, but mailed me a card for the $1,400 stimulus the same day. (Both prior stimulus payments were direct deposit.) The card came in an envelope I almost threw away unopened because it looked so much like junk mail. I was sure it was an offer to sell me better car insurance or something.
ZeeLizzee
@Mary G: my husband’s first two stimulus payments were made by check, the last was direct deposited. His social security had been direct deposited since 2014.
kmax
@Ken: I know this is a dead thread, but I just want it on record that you may have made the funniest comment I’ve read on this blog in oh so many years. :-)